


A Holiday at the End of the World

by yourbonnieprince



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Childhood Memories, Halloween, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, vague mentions of childhood trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 12:57:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6754843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourbonnieprince/pseuds/yourbonnieprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world as we know it has ended but Halloween still didn't die. A.K.A Wil tries to get Nico to celebrate his least favorite holiday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Holiday at the End of the World

**Author's Note:**

> The unofficial Queen of Solangelo™ has returned after a year. I've missed writing about my boys.♥ I did take some liberties with mythology because Tartarus hounds aren't real mythical creatures and how they look is completely my own invention. But who's to say Hades didn't cook up something like them for shits and giggles (and because it's the apocolypse). Also, Maria di Angelo's birthday is my own invention and I quite like it because I love seeing Nico in pain apparently. [Rated Mature for Nico's love of the f-word and rating it Teen doesn't feel right.] Ask me to write porn and I might. ;)

 

Nico di Angelo hates Halloween.

He's not saying that just because he dresses like he was spawned from Halloween and people used to make fun of him for it. No. He just hates Halloween. So he has to wonder why his boyfriend and survival partner, Will Solace, is digging through the Dumpster of an old Party City that has been burnt to the ground by either lightning or lava, Nico can't be too sure, looking for discarded decorations for the dreaded holiday. Why were holidays at the forefront of the son of Apollo's mind? Nico would think finding shelter for the night was more important. Oh, and surviving an apocolypse caused by another mythological war.

"They have to be in here somewhere!"

Nico sighs and knocks on the side of the Dumpster to get Will's attention. They had to get moving if they were going to find a safe place to sleep tonight and the blond was delaying them.

"They were probably destroyed by Zeus's lightning when this building was hit by a stray bolt. Everything inside was probably incinerated. Now get out of that thing, I don't want you smelling like garbage. Who knows when the next rain will come; it's the only way we can get fresh water now."

Will visibly flops in defeat before using momentum to jump down from the side of the blue monstrosity.

"I thought for sure there would be something we could use."

Nico nudges him while rolling his eyes.

"You know how I feel about Halloween anyway, why are you so adamant about celebrating it? How are you even keeping up with the days of the year. I sure haven't been able to."

Will shrugs, taking out one of his arrows to check the tip. It didn't need to be checked; Nico knew the blond was doing it to think of what to say.

"I don't know. Everything has fallen apart around us but we're still here. I'm trying to keep up a semblance of normalcy between the random lightning attacks and awkward flooding. Oh, and the monsters from Tartarus."

Nico has to laugh a little. Will was right. Some normalcy would be welcome in the midst of an apocalypse of mythical proportions. The blond reaches for his hand as they begin the trek away from the burned building behind them in search for a place to sleep. The brunet accepts it with little fuss, long past the days of rejecting physical contact.

"Hey, I was able to control the skeleton armies to help us...somewhat, at least. Dad is on the side of the demigods because he thinks it's benefitting him; that's good for us. I can't say the same for the rest of the gods but I can't know what they're thinking."

Will nods in agreement as they continue down the destroyed sidewalk, jumping patches of poison and still hot lava pools that melt the concrete beneath their feet..

"I wish I could say the same for my dad. I haven't heard from him in two years. I know Annabeth is out of her mind with worry over Athena. Rachel feels useless without the Oracle's spirit. We've got our own problems."

A howl in the distance distracts the son of Hades from what he was going to say next, both of them immediately on the alert.

"Problems like Tartarus hounds. Shit."

Will grabs Nico's hand tighter and jerks him into the nearest alleyway before whipping the Stygian blade, given to him by Hades at Nico's request, from across his back and proceeds to block the entrance with his body. Nico knows the blond isn't as confident in swords as he is in archery but his arrows wouldn't help them against these particular monsters. They've tried.

"Damn. It had to be Tartarus hounds, didn't it", Nico says as he feels bile rise in his throat and fear grips his entire body, making him lose his footing and stumble into the wall of one of the buildings.

"I won't let those monsters hurt you again, sunshine", Will says with confidence, body squared, ready to fight.

The brunet tampers down the flair of affection in his chest. Now wasn't the time to get flustered. His palms are sweating and he can't focus as it is. The hellish barking conjures bad memories of being chased by six of the monsters. They nearly took him down a few months ago. One perfectly placed bite and a Tartarus hound can seperate an arm from the rest of a body. Nico knows he wouldn't be here if Will hadn't snuck up on the monsters and cut his way through their pack with his, then newly gifted, Stygian sword. But neither of them escaped without scars. Survival partners was one of the better ideas Percy Jackson had had since the world went to hell. Nico wondered in the back of his mind if the rest of their friends were surviving. Wherever they were.

"I trust you."

"Thanks", Will says with a smile in his voice.

Nico is fine letting Will have this one, he can barely grip his own Stygian blade in his shaking hands. The howling gets closer and Will reaches back with his free hand to once again grip the shorter boy's own. A pack of shadows in the shape of large dogs whirl past their hiding spot. The snarls of the monsters make Nico's heart beat faster than normal and he feels like he's going to pass out. The Tartarus hound pack slows to a stop and the beasts begin to sniff out the area, looking for their next victim. It feels like hours, standing there frozen, waiting for one of the hounds to sniff them out and attack them. The smaller demigod feels Will stiffen his muscles to strike and the grip on his own hand tightens imperceptibly. They wait with bated breath at what might be the end of the road for the two of them. One of the shadowy canines gets close enough to them they can see the monster's gleaming teeth. Out of sheer luck, the hound, nor any of it's beastly friends, seem to catch whiff of their demigod scent. Within seconds, the monsters have reformed their pack and have sped off down the street to search for a kill elsewhere.

"Thank Hades none of them seemed to smell us", the blond says only after the howls have died away.

Will sheathes his sword before collapsing against the wall, his legs giving out. Nico has to agree, legs losing their strength. The brunet slides down the wall to the ground. His face is far paler than usual and he's drenched in a cold sweat.

"How's about that Halloween celebration now, sunshine? To take our minds off that near death experience."

The brunet turns his head to scowl at his boyfriend. He shouldn't have hoped that Will had forgotten about that awful holiday. The blond takes the brunet's smaller hand and pulls Nico into his lap. The smaller grumbles and manages to right himself, a leg placed on either side of Will's hips. Nico can slowly feel the panic seep from his bones, leaving exhaustion behind. Maybe being closer to Will was helping. His cheeks turn strawberry red and the smaller demigod folds his arms across his chest with a huff.

"Kiss me", Will says out of nowhere before pursing his lips and smacking them obnoxiously.

"You have an odd way of dealing with fear", the brunet says, flicking the blond's shoulder.

Nico ends up indulging Will anyway. Hopefully it would help take his mind off the encounter with the Tartarus hounds.

(It does.)

Nico doesn't know how long they stay in the alleyway, lips constantly meeting and pulling apart, only to meet again seconds after being separated. Once both of them can sense the sun is about to set behind the dense clouds, they leave their hiding spot to search for higher ground for the night. No one with common sense would be out and about after dark. After walking far outside of the destroyed city, Nico thinks it might be Chicago, they find themselves in a deserted neighborhood. Most of the houses are destroyed or completely gone but, they manage to find a house that has escaped an attack for the time being. Will kicks down the door and they both walk inside, making themselves at home right away. The two demigods block all the doors and windows with a heavy objects they find throughout the house to hinder a monster from slipping inside. Nico then raids the pantry for non perishables they can eat now and pack more away for later. He's startled when Will suddenly whoops from the garage with glee.

"I found bread in the freezer!"

Will comes back into the kitchen from said garage with, indeed, two frozen loaves of bread.

"Why would they need to freeze bread?"

The blond shrugs as he adds the loaves to their stock pile.

"Works for us, though. I've missed the taste of bread."

After they have deemed they've collected enough food and fresh water for a few days, the family was smart and kept tons of water bottles, they check out the sleeping arrangements. Thank Hades they'd be sleeping on an actual bed and not some dingy mattress in an abandoned warehouse like they had to last night.

"I wonder what happened to the people that lived here", Nico wonders out loud as he rummages through the master bedroom closet for more clothes.

"Well, I can probably guess."

Nico looks up to see the other holding up a flyer for some religious zealot and the address to an "end of days" bunker is printed along the bottom. The movies were right. The "end of days" could make any man, woman, or child regret not believing in a higher power. Also, none of the family's stuff is strewn about like they left in a hurry. They abandonded their home of their own volition.

"Hopefully nothing happened to them on the way there but that's wishful thinking."

Will agrees as he shoves the flyer back in the bedside table drawer so they can forget about the innocent mortals who got caught up in this stupid, mythological war. You can't save everyone. They both continue to search through the house for things that could help them before the brunet hears snickering and the rustling of paper. He whirls around and drops the shirt in his hands in shock. Will is hanging up _Halloween decorations_.

Nico honestly can't believe his boyfriend. He was distracted for two seconds and the next time he looks up, the entire bedroom is festooned with orange and black streamers and Will looks smug.

"Are you fucking serious. I thought we weren't gonna do this, god's damn it."

"C'mon, sunshine, get in the spirit. It's most likely Halloween if the calendars Annabeth gave us were calculated right. They most likely were."

Nico thinks a couple skeletons to threaten Will to remove the offending orange and black paper isn't too far fetched of a tactic.

"Please don't make me celebrate this dreaded holiday. Even Bianca doesn't make me celebrate it."

The blond shushes him before pulling him close. He runs a tanned hand through the shorter's dark brown locks.

"Where did you even find these?", the brunet groans, giving in to his boyfriend's sunny smile.

"I found them in a hall closet. Aren't I lucky?"

"No, I'm cursed."

Okay. Halloween wasn't so bad. Figuratively. They had no candy so Will couldn't even attempt to eat himself sick like he did one time. But, Will did find cliche looking ghost and witch cutouts in the closet along with the streamers. He hung them up around the bedroom, too. Nico didn't think he could sleep in this room anymore.

"Please take these down before we go to bed. I'm begging you. You know I don't beg but I am begging now."

"Happy Halloween, sunshine! We've survived this long and here's to another almost new year!"

"Please take me to the Lethe. I want to drink to forget."

Will rolls his eyes and presses his finger to Nico's lips.

"At least try. It's better than being attacked by Tartarus hounds or wondering when the next natural disaster will strike. At least you have a 100% chance if surviving this."

"Fine."

Nico does try for Will, he really does. They can't do much except tell scary stories in the by the light of their flashlights but Will has to ax the idea once Nico starts to get too into it. The blond claims he'll get night terrors if the brunet continues any further.

“I don’t want to know about Tartarus being an actual breathing being. Trust me, I’m better off not knowing.”

“You asked for a scary story and I gave you one”, Nico says unapologetically.

“Yeah, but I meant ones that weren’t based in reality.”

“All the good scary stories are.”

“Stop!”

The brunet snickers under his breath at the other’s glare.

“Moving on to bobbing for apples!”

Okay. They couldn’t really bob for apples either, so they just end up having to eat a couple from their food stash; which is perfectly alright by Nico. He didn’t even know how to bob for an apple. He didn't know how to do a lot of the Halloween traditions. After they finish their apples, they have to turn off the flashlights so no monster will catch sight of life. They're stripped down to boxers and curled under the blankets on the borrowed bed when Will asks the question Nico knew was coming.

"Sunshine?"

"Hmm", Nico murmurs from his comfy spot, cheek pillowed on Will's broader chest.

"Why do you dislike Halloween so much? You aren't a fan of holidays in general, but Halloween is the only one you avoid like the plague."

The brunet sighs before slowly sitting up, back facing his boyfriend.

"Well....Halloween was mom's birthday. It's the day she died, too."

"Oh...Nico, I...I'm sorry..I-..You always said it was "just because". I never would've thought..."

The smaller demigod turns to face Will. Guilt seeps into his bones at the blond’s saddened tone. This wasn’t Will's pain to deal with.

"It isn't your fault, no one knows. Not even Percy and Jason know. I don’t want them to know. Dad's probably forgotten which is fine by me. Bianca and I, we’re handling it. We're okay."

Will sits up, as well. He felt like the worst boyfriend in the world. He should've asked before being so adamant about celebrating.

"Mom hated it", Nico says a bit of a laugh.

"Hated what?"

"Halloween. She was as Catholic as anyone could be and Halloween didn't flow well with her religious belief system. And Halloween was never a thing in Italy to begin with. We celebrated All Saints Day on November first instead."

"Halloween is just a holiday for families to have fun. Only some people use it for weird, demonic ceremonies."

"She never let us go out on Halloween night. But that was okay by me and Bianca. We didn't know about any Halloween traditions so we weren't really missing out. We just had a nice cake with mom. Bianca and I would always argue on who got the biggest piece, though Mom always ended up with a bigger slice than both of ours combined."

Nico laughs hollowly. He hadn't thought about that in years. He wonders if Bianca remembers any of it. Will wraps a strong arm around the brunet's small shoulders, pulling him tight to his chest.

"Sunshine, I'm not the one causing you any pain, am I? We don't have to continue celebrating..."

The brunet shakes his head. His mom's death has faded to a dull ache but the pain is obviously still there. It was never going to go away.

"No, of course not, Will. But, even if it is you, this doesn't mean I'm going to start liking Halloween. I don't think I ever could. It brings up too many memories."

The unwelcome vision of the ceiling of the hotel falling on top of his mother flashes through his mind and his blood runs cold. He shakes his head lightly to clear it.

"But….let’s not dwell on her. She’s been gone for a long time. She would want me to move on. And I have, no matter how traumatic her passing was”, Nico says as he pulls away frpm the blond and turns his back to the other so he can lay down again.

Will laughs awkwardly before quickly slipping behind the brunet before he can lay down fully and hooks his arms around the smaller demigod's middle, pressing his face against pale skin. The only sounds in the room is the gentle hum of the only surviving streetlight outside and their quiet breathing. Nico speaks after a few long minutes. He can tell his cheeks are the color of ripe cherries.

"What is it?"

"Just wanted to hold you. I'll always want to hold you."

The brunet's cheeks got even redder than cherries, if that is even possible, and lightly smacks the older demigod's forearm with a huff.

"You're such a gross sap."

"You love it."

"No I fucking don't-ACK!"

Will pulls Nico back against his chest, making the shorter demigod flail his arms in surprise. The brunet ends up with his back pressed to the older demigod's chest. His head comes to rest on Will's shoulder but he doesn't even bother trying to put up a fight. He was cursed with leech for a boyfriend and he's long stopped trying to spurn Will's need for affection. He's stopped wanting to.

"You asshole", Nico grumbles with little venom.

Will chuckles into Nico’s neck and blond strands tickle the smaller demigod’s skin. Goosebumps raise on the brunet’s skin, causing him to suck in a short breath. His dark eyes land on what he vaguely thinks is a wall. Thus, a location of the gaudy Halloween decorations. They have got to go. He gently wiggles out of Will’s embrace, ignoring the little voice in his head telling him to stay.

“What on earth are you doing, sunshine?”

“I can’t sleep knowing these monstrosities are still on the wall. Even if it's too dark to see them..”

Nico feels around, starting to rip down anything that feels like cheap cardboard or flimsy paper.

“At least get a flashlight?”

“No, we have to save the batteries. I’m used to the dark somewhat. Dad’s realm has some places blacker than this I can get through without any trouble. And I have the streetlight to help me a little.”

“Want me to help?”

“It’s up to you”, the smaller demigod says just as he viciously rips down a paper ghost.

Will does end up helping and in no time, the walls are completely devoid of decorations. They both fall back on to the bed, Nico slipping into Will's embrace as the blond pulls the blankets back over them. The hum of the lone streetlight fills the silence in the room again. The sound lulls Nico to sleep along with the older demigod's warmth.

"Happy Halloween, Nico", Will whispers with a laugh.

"...You're lucky I love you."

Nico _really_ hates Halloween.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading if you made it this far! If you would like me to write more of this apocalypse AU with Solangelo or Rick Riordan characters, please leave a comment or send me a message!


End file.
